DARKSTAR ONE LYSMIR MANUAL
DARKSTAR ONE LYSMIR FULL

But despite DarkStar's adventuring nature, make no mistake - it is foremost an exercise in dogfighting.

DARKSTAR ONE LYSMIR FULL

The game's narrated, playable early tutorial missions are foolproof yet instructive, gently leading you into full control - like that grade school swimming coach who'd keep a hand under you until you eventually floated off on your own. It exhaustively describes absolutely everything you need to know, and does so without being dull or confusing.

DARKSTAR ONE LYSMIR MANUAL

The printed manual is, in a word, superb. Indeed, DarkStar is a shining beacon of user- and rookie-friendliness. Keeping track of the items you need, the items you have, the places you've been and the places you need to go involves a little on-the-fly referencing, but it's never a hassle. Using your joystick to steer and shoot, your space bar to activate your mouse, and your mouse or hotkeys to access items such as your logbook and your all-important navigation chart, you'll rarely have a problem with logistics. However, it's rendered and conceived in such a way that Kayvan's multitude of duties never seems overly burdensome. The cockpit, for example, initially seems rather cryptic. One of the game's great strengths is its surprising simplicity. As time goes on, Kayron will find himself piloting one heck of a nifty ship. And he'll battle a hodge-podge of enemy craft - sometimes out of necessity when he's suddenly accosted, but other times just to play the part of bounty hunter and score credit points to purchase weapons, navigational aids, and other perks. He may even pop a cap in the rear of a neutral or friendly craft, just to gain the reputation of someone who can't be messed with. He might involve himself in a little smuggling, facing the threat of police persecution and a possible criminal record for the potential reward of a big payday. He might transport goods and products, ensuring that the customers on the receiving end are willing to pay a good buck. Along the way, he'll take care of personal business too. Moreover, Kayron's official missions are just part of the story. So…even though most of his sorties will begin and end in rather repetitive fashion - by leaving and returning to one of the many identically structured space stations he finds in each new locale - and even though the game squeezes him into a linear plotline, there is variety to be had. Still others will have him zipping about hither and thither to meet up with certain powerful people, or just to find a good hiding spot for a little undercover work.

Others will ask him to tow cargo containers from one solar system to another. Some missions will include the fiery destruction of enemy craft. It is also his purpose to participate in and emerge successful from the missions he is given. It is Kayron's purpose, therefore, to source out and gather up all the artifacts. Of course, in the interests of believability, the various 'artifacts' required to transform this comparatively sedate fighter into a fire-breathing monster are scattered across the four corners of the galaxy - some in particularly odd places like the middle of hollowed-out asteroids. Indeed, it's fully capable of becoming something much bigger, much more advanced, and much more unstoppable than it initially appears to be. Like a hippie's diet, the DarkStar One is, like, organic, dude. As it turns out, Kayron's dad was into some seriously wild engineering before he passed on, and he instilled a ton of that engineering into Kayron's inheritance. Truth is that DarkStar One isn't your average fighter. Kayron will stick with this craft throughout the game, a fate that isn't nearly as dull as it might seem. A gift from his father from beyond the grave, the game namesake 'DarkStar One' is as experimental as they come, and quickly becomes the star of the show.

Unlike most of us poor shmucks, whose first taste of motorized transportation likely featured the words 'Ford' and 'Escort,' Kayron almost immediately becomes the proud owner of a brand new spacecraft.

He also has the good fortune of arriving just as his own solar system comes under attack by all manner of pirates, mercenaries, and assorted dastardly villains. You see, Kayron soon meets people who know a lot more than he does about dear old dad's final few months and days. As luck would have it, both wishes can be filled within the context of the game. In DarkStar One, you'll play the part of one Kayron Jarvis, an up and coming young pilot who's just as eager to battle enemy ne'er do wells as he is to track down more information regarding the suspicious death of his father.

Darkstar one lysmir